よつばと discussion (Beginner) April 2024

Hello! I’ve got a couple of questions on page 21.

この辺じゃ見ない子だ - I read that じゃ is a colloquial way of saying では, indicating location, which would make sense here, so can this be translated to ‘I haven’t seen that kid in this area’?

なんかかわかった。。。外国の子。。。?- I couldn’t understand the first part of this sentence. Is かわかった from かわる(to change)? So ‘Something changed’? I’m not too sure what she’s trying to say.

5 Likes

Blockquote この辺じゃ見ない子だ - I read that じゃ is a colloquial way of saying では, indicating location, which would make sense here, so can this be translated to ‘I haven’t seen that kid in this area’?

Yes that’s my interpretation as well, この辺では ← in this area 見ない子だ ← a child you don’t see
→ you don’t see that child in this area

Blockquote なんかかわかった。。。外国の子。。。?- I couldn’t understand the first part of this sentence. Is かわかった from かわる(to change)? So ‘Something changed’? I’m not too sure what she’s trying to say.

I think it’s なんか +かわった so someone/something like + unusual so → something/someone unusual

5 Likes

Hi!

しっかり has a lot of meanings, @SoreWaMaichiru explains it here.

In this case, トーちゃん thinks that she is a reliable/dependable person for a high school student. He says that when in high school, well, now still, he is not a person of solid character. あやせ tells him to please be, then apologises (for taking the liberty, I guess).

2 Likes

Hi again!

In relation to the different onomatopoeias (擬音語 / 擬態語) that appear in the book, you can use Jisho with the keyword #on-mim to try and look for them.

(e.g. this would be a search for ブン as an onomatopeia)

3 Likes

Yes, 方 (かた) can be used as a polite term for a person.

I read until page 23 today, not many issues, but I learned a new word: ブランコ (鞦韆) = swing
Incidentally, is this one missing from the Yotsuba vocab deck?

4 Likes

Good evening (or morning) to everyone. I have also finished the first 25 pages or so. It was all in all fun to read, and not too hard (yet). Most of my questions have been answered, but here is a few:

p.18, last panel

I don’t get the full grammar here. It is something like “If there is a strange kid. That will be her.” But とおも思う here refers to the dad, thinking that, or to the girl ?

p.24, third panel

自分で反動つけてたら動くから I don’t fully grasp that, either. If you apply motion by yourself, it will move?How could 反動つける be translated?

Besides, I know that a list of vocab for Yotsuba on bunpro was made already (for which I am eternally grateful), but I also found another vocab list, made by the Wanikani reading club, for the entire Volume 1. list for Volume 1 of Yotsuba. It might also be helpful.

Finally, this scene was really the cherry on top.

5 Likes

Hi,
also done my reading for today.

Here is my questions :

Page 23:

  • こうやってあそぶの is the same than こういうあそぶの ?
  • おして ? => What is the verb/grammar used here ?

Page 24:

  • 自分で反動つけたらうごくから => Same question than @Augustus

Thanks !

2 Likes

The って思う refers to the girl - if she thinks it’s a weird kid it’s probably Yotsuba.

自分で反動つけてたら動くから gave me a headscratch too. 反動 in broad sense refers to recoil or reaction force, so I guess 反動をつける means simply to apply reaction force (to gain momentum).

おして is the verb 押す to push.

こういう I think can only be used in front of nouns as いう is a verb in plain form, and also it feels weird to me when used like that. こうやって describes a way of doing something, whereas こういう I think describes the qualities of something.

4 Likes

Thank you, that makes sense.

2 Likes

Finished up my reading for today! Got a good chuckle out of the section with the swings hehe.

Gonna take a lil break on adding the vocab from the deck until I move some of my vocab up the srs :sweat_smile:

Question

For the panel with 手離しちゃダメ ,

I’m reading it like “absolutely don’t let go!”

My question would be, is this a common use pattern? i.e. だめ with てしまう・ちゃう

If so, would it be worth adding it to the grammar point? the だめ usage is mentioned in the なくちゃ grammar point, but the result in this context seems to be the opposite of what that one gets at.

1 Like

Finished up my 5 pages for the day too. <3

3 Likes

This book club idea so far has been really really good. A lot of participation in the community for the different levels of it + questions answered. Also encouraged a lot of people to start reading too it seems.

7 Likes

I’m not sure if it’s correct, but Yomitan told me the ちゃ could be another form of ては. That would match (1) in ては (JLPT N2) | Bunpro

So I would say it’s like “If you let go your hands, it will be bad.”

5 Likes

Thanks for looking into it! I could totally see that interpretation, and you also got me to think of another grammar point I hadn’t considered

てはいけない, and the だめ is mentioned in the caution section here.

It’s so hard to tell sometimes if something is being omitted coloquially or if another type of grammar is being used :tired_face:

2 Likes

I’ve got another vocab deck report: 奴 as “め / damn, bastard, humble” instead of “やつ / guy, dude, he, she, etc.”

2 Likes

Ah…duh. His name (ジャンボ) means “jumbo”. :sweat_smile:

1 Like

よつば on the swings and えな’s reactions are my favorite part of this volume :smiley:

The one bit I’m a little unclear on is this line:

自分で反動つけたら動くから

My interpretation is something like “You can move yourself by kicking (swinging your legs)”

but that’s more from context than a strict understanding.

自分で - on your own / by yourself / under your own power
反動 - reaction/recoil/kick — here I’m not sure if the intention is how the swinger gains momentum as a reaction to swinging their legs, or the more direct “kick” meaning?
つけたら - the たら (JLPT N4) | Bunpro conjunction particle used with つける… 付ける? I’ve seen that verb used with a lot of physical activities.
動くから - you move… because of the preceding clause (if you kick)?

I feel so close to understanding, but it’s just not a strict understanding.

One last deck QA point:
辺 is presented as ほとりinstead of ヘン.

4 Likes

I took the 外国の子。。。? bit to mean Yotsuba is acting so strange that she seems like she’s foreign (foreigner) - the literal meaning would be international/overseas/foreign kid (from the kanji).

I’M REALLY bad though so, totally get someone else’s opinion lol

4 Likes
Spoilers for later volumes, if you think Yotsuba can be spoiled...

She is often spoken of as being a foreigner and she is also adopted. If I remember correctly her dad got her from some island somewhere (it is that vague, I believe). So it’s kind of an open question of whether she is actually foreign or not but I assumed yes when I first read it. This is based on my broken understanding when I read this series around 2 years ago so I may have misunderstood or misremembered something.

外国の子 sounds politer than just saying 外国人 and definitely politer than 外人. 外国の方 is probably the politest way to say “foreigner” (方 is read as かた here and is the same polite word mentioned higher up in this thread).

7 Likes

That was my interpretation as well! Give yourself some credit :wink:. I think we’re around the same level of WK and BP and I’d say I’m having to work hard at all the same areas that you are mentioning.

一緒に頑張りましょう。

I wanted to say I’m all caught up, I believe. All the questions I had have been addressed. Thank you everyone for your great questions, answers, and support. I’m really enjoying this journey with you all.

6 Likes